In Poker, players make forced bets known as ante and blind bets. After the ante is made, the dealer shuffles the deck and deals cards one at a time to each player. The cards may be dealt face-up or face-down, depending on the game’s variation. As the players take turns, they may hold up to three cards or discard one or two. If there are fewer than three cards, replacement cards will be dealt.

When a player has a pair of five cards, the hand is known as a straight. A straight consists of five cards in a row, with an ace being either high or low. It may not wrap around. Straights are not tied, but two straights of the same value will split the pot. A three-of-a-kind hand is composed of three cards of the same rank, whereas a pair consists of two cards of the same rank and three unmatched cards.

When there are more than ten players, two separate games may be organized. When there are fewer than five players, three-card Monte and Spit-in-the-Ocean can be played. The variations of Poker are many and will be described in the following sections. There are also different rules for playing more than one game at once. In a tournament, the game is known as a heads-up tournament. In this type of game, each player must win at least half of his bet before the game begins.